Pre-service teachers: Attitudes toward math word problems and contributing factors

Abstract

A survey of attitude toward math word problems was given to university students, the majority from Hispanic ethnic backgrounds enrolled in educational classes. The purpose of this study is to find the factor causing significant impact on their attitudes from several dependent variables in the survey and also to find whether the students have positive or negative attitudes toward math word problems. The study was a quantitative one using SPSS’s regression analysis. The study found that from six variables, the number of high school math courses had significant correlation with students’ attitudes. The study also found that students did not show negative attitudes toward math word problems.